The present invention relates generally to the field of handling systems for collapsible plastic containers, such as bottles, and in particular to an automated method of capping, leak testing, labelling, evacuating and packing collapsible plastic containers in bulk into magazine clips for subsequent handling operations, and to a compact, integrated apparatus for carrying out such a method.
In an earlier issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,427, there is disclosed a collapsible plastic container having a collapsible body portion and a non-collapsible neck portion defining an opening into the plastic container. The non-collapsible neck portion preferably defines two indexing flats arranged in parallel orientation to one another on diametrically opposed outer sides of the non-collapsible neck portion. The indexing flats preferably extend longitudinally between a spaced pair of annular tables arranged in opposed encircling relation to one another around the outside of the neck portion. This arrangement forms a waisted portion on the non-collapsible neck portion which adapts the neck portion to be received in register with corresponding portions of mechanical means for selectively positioning the container in predetermined radial alignment relative to the mechanical means during various mechanical handling and processing operations. An example of one form of such handling means is a bulk filling station for filling and dispensing collapsible plastic containers as shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,256 (Brown et al.). This arrangement also beneficially adapts containers having such a waisted neck portion to be used in conjunction with a magazine clip means, such as that disclosed in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,427. Such a magazine clip means has a longitudinal body portion adapted to receive a plurality of the containers in supported, intermitting, releasably slidable relation with the respective waisted portions of the container necks. Moreover, the body portion of the magazine clip means is operable to direct delivery of succeeding ones of the containers longitudinally to at least one discharge opening of the body portion. In this manner, the magazine clip means is adapted to receive a plurality of the collapsible containers for collective storage, handling, shipping distribution and merchandising in a particularly compact and economical manner, without the need for re-packaging during any of these phases. Moreover, the magazine clip means can be readily used to collectively load the plurality of containers held there within into automated handling and processing equipment adapted to accept such clips without the need to individually handle the containers.
Lastly, the magazine clips are preferably constructed from plastic or cardboard to facilitate re-use, or recycling, thereof. The advantages of utilizing such magazine clips of collapsible plastic containers are numerous and well-documented in, inter alia, U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,256 and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,427. The present invention relates to a compactly designed high speed packaging integrator that can be located at the manufacturing level for labelling, capping, evacuating, folding and placement of collapsible plastic containers into a magazine clip, without the need for trans-packaging or shipping of the empty containers between manufacturing, packaging, and labelling sites. Moreover, a plurality of the collapsible plastic containers, still loaded in the magazine clips, can be transferred directly into a point-of-sale filler/merchandiser, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,256. The economies realized in manufacturing facility space and time, storage and transportation costs, and retail point of sale space using the system of which the present invention is a part, are significant. More particularly, at the manufacturing facility level, it is in the prior art necessary to utilize separate automated process lines for each of the leak testing, labelling, capping and filling processes, which lines are often linear, or near linear, in their layout, and are often arranged at separate plant locations. This arrangement is not only wasteful of valuable factory floor space, but may also engender significant additional handling costs and delays as the containers are moved from one process line to the other for completion of the next process step. Additionally, as the several process steps typically occur at different speeds, stockpiling or warehousing space may be necessary between the various process steps to hold inventories of containers from the previous process step for subsequent next-step processing. All of the factors add to the inefficiencies, delays and associated costs associated with prior art container is handling systems and devices.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a method for machine packing a plurality of collapsible plastic containers into a magazine clip means for subsequent handling of the containers, which method provides, in a preferred embodiment, for leak testing, capping, labelling, evacuation and folding of the containers prior to loading into the magazine clip, all of said process steps being carried out in seriatim as part of an integrated process without the need for intervening handling of the containers.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for machine packing a plurality of collapsible plastic containers into a magazine clip means for subsequent handling of the containers, which method utilizes minimal factory floor space to carry out the method.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for machine packing a plurality of collapsible plastic containers into a magazine clip means for subsequent handling of the containers, which method obviates the need for warehousing or inventorying of containers between sub-steps of the method.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a method for machine packing a plurality of collapsible plastic containers into a magazine clip means for subsequent handling of the containers, which method is fast, efficient and economical, as compared to the prior art.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for machine packing a plurality of collapsible plastic containers into a magazine clip means for subsequent handling of the containers, which apparatus provides means for leak testing, capping, labelling, evacuation and folding of the containers prior to loading into the magazine clip, all of said means being provided as part of an integrated apparatus, which apparatus obviates the meed for intervening human handling of the containers between stations of the apparatus.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for machine packing a plurality of collapsible plastic containers into a magazine clip means for subsequent handling of the containers, which apparatus provides means for leak testing, capping, labelling, evacuation and folding of the containers prior to loading into the magazine clip, all of said means being provided as part of an integrated apparatus, which apparatus is compactly sized to minimize the factory floor space which it utilizes.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for machine packing a plurality of collapsible plastic containers into a magazine clip means for subsequent handling of the containers, which apparatus obviates the need for warehousing or inventorying of containers between stations of the apparatus.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for machine packing a plurality of collapsible plastic containers into a magazine clip means for subsequent handling of the containers which apparatus is fast, efficient and economical, as compared to equipment utilized in the prior art.
In accordance with the present invention there is disclosed a process for machine packing a plurality of collapsible plastic containers into a magazine clip means for subsequent handling of the collapsible plastic containers, each collapsible plastic container having a collapsible body portion and a non-collapsible neck portion defining an opening to the collapsible plastic container. The process comprises, in order, the steps of: mechanically selecting one of said collapsible plastic containers from a serially arranged row of said plurality of containers by gripping said first collapsible plastic container about said neck portion; mechanically translating said selected collapsible plastic container to a predetermined capping station; at said capping station, mechanically applying to the neck portion of the selected collapsible plastic container, in closed, sealing relation to said opening of the collapsible plastic container, a closure cap having a rim portion and a lid portion connected to the rim portion by a hinge means; mechanically translating said select collapsible plastic container to a predetermined collapsing station; adjacent said collapsing station mechanically opening the lid portion of said closure cap to break said sealing relation to said opening of the collapsible plastic container by hinged movement in a first direction of the lid potion about said hinge means; at said collapsing station, mechanically removing a substantial portion of the volume of air from within the selected collapsible plastic container so as to cause substantial collapse of the body portion of said selected collapsible plastic container at said collapsing station; at said collapsing station, mechanically closing the lid portion of said closure cap to re-establish said sealing relation with said opening of the selected collapsible plastic container by hinged movement of the lid portion in a second direction opposed to said first direction about said hinge means, mechanically translating said selected collapsible plastic container to a predetermined magazine loading station; and, at said magazine loading station, mechanically loading said selected collapsible plastic container into said magazine clip means so as to hold said selected collapsible plastic container within said clip means by way of frictional interaction between said non-collapsible neck portion and said magazine clip means.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is further provided, before the step of mechanically translating the selected container to the capping station, the further steps of, mechanically translating the selected plastic container to a predetermined leak testing station; at the leak testing station, mechanically pressurizing the plastic container with a pressurized fluid, such as air. After such pressurizing takes place,. mechanically measuring the retention of the pressurized fluid within the selected collapsible plastic container over a predetermined period of time and comparing the retention value so obtained with a predetermined threshold value; and, before the step of mechanically loading the selected collapsible plastic container into the magazine clip, mechanically ejecting from the process each selected collapsible plastic container having a retention value less than the predetermined threshold value.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is further provided, after processing of the selected collapsible plastic container at the leak testing station, as previously outlined, but before translation to the selected container to the capping station, the further steps of; mechanically translating the selected collapsible plastic container to a predetermined labelling station; at said labelling station, mechanically pressurizing the selected collapsible plastic container with a fluid, such as air, so as to cause the collapsible body portion to become distended; and, while the collapsible body portion is so distended, mechanically applying a self-adhesive label to said body portion.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is disclosed an apparatus for machine packing a plurality of collapsible plastic containers into a magazine clip means for subsequent handing of the collapsible plastic containers. Each of the collapsible plastic containers has a collapsible body portion and a non-collapsible neck portion defining an opening to the collapsible plastic container. The apparatus according to this aspect has a selection means for selecting one of the collapsible plastic containers from a serially arranged row of similar collapsible plastic containers by gripping the selected collapsible plastic container about the neck portion. Once gripped in this manner, the selection means transfers the selected collapsible plastic container to a transfer station, at which transfer station a translation means receives the selected container in retained relation about the neck portion. Thereafter, the translation means translates the selected container, in serially indexed relation, to each of a capping station, a collapsing station and a magazine loading station, which stations form part of the apparatus. A capping means is positioned at the capping station for applying to the neck portion of the selected collapsible plastic container, in closed, sealing relation to the opening of the collapsible plastic container, a closure cap having a rim portion and a lid portion connected to the rim portion by a hinge means. A cap opening means is positioned between the capping station and the collapsing station for opening of the hinged lid portion of the closure cap in a first direction, thereby breaking the sealed relation of the closure cap to the opening of the selected collapsible plastic container. A collapsing means is positioned at the collapsing station for removing a substantial portion of the volume of air from within the selected collapsible plastic container, thereby causing substantial collapse of the body portion of the selected collapsible plastic container at the collapsing station. A cap closing means is positioned at the collapsing station for closing the lid portion of the closure cap by hinged movement of the lid portion in a second direction opposed to the first direction, thereby re-establishing sealing relation between the closure cap and the opening of the selected collapsible plastic container. A loading means is positioned at the magazine loading station for translating the selected collapsible plastic container from the translation means into the magazine clip means so as to hold the selected collapsible plastic container within the clip means by way of frictional interaction between the non-collapsible neck portion and magazine clip means.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the translation means of the apparatus comprises a carousel means adapted for accepting the selected collapsible plastic container at the transfer station as aforesaid in radially indexed, retained relation about its neck portion, and for translating the selected collapsible plastic container in serially indexed rotary relation to each of the capping, collapsing and magazine loading stations.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, the carousel means translates the selected container in serially indexed rotary relation to each of a leak testing station, the capping station, the collapsing station and the magazine loading station, and wherein the apparatus additionally comprises: at said leak testing station a first pressurizing means for pressurizing the selected collapsible plastic container with a fluid, such as air, and a leak testing means for measuring the retention of the pressurized fluid within the selected collapsible plastic container over a predetermined period of time and for comparing the retention value so obtained with a predetermined threshold retention value so as to permit identification of the selected container as a leaking container, if the retention value so measured is less than the threshold value. Ejection means are also preferably provided for ejecting from the carousel means each of the plastic containers that are so identified as a leaking container.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, the carousel means additionally translates the selected container in serially indexed rotary relation to each of the leak testing station, a labelling station, the capping station, the collapsing station and the magazine loading station, and the apparatus additionally comprises, at the labelling station, a second pressurizing means for pressurizing the selected collapsible plastic container with a fluid, such as air, so as to cause the collapsible body portion to become distended, and a label applicator means for applying an adhesive label to the body portion of the selected collapsible plastic container when so distended.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a folding means is provided adjacent to the magazine loading station for folding the collapsible body portion of each selected collapsible plastic container held within the magazine clip about an axis transverse to the longitudinal axis of the selected container, thereby shortening the effective longitudinal length of each selected collapsible plastic container projecting from the magazine clip.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a transport means is also provided adjacent the magazine loading station for transporting the selected collapsible plastic container held within the magazine clip in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the magazine clip from an initial loaded position within the magazine clip, which initial loaded position is proximal to the magazine loading station, to a final loaded position within the magazine clip, which final loaded position is distal to the magazine loading station.
Other advantages, features and characteristics of the present invention, as well as methods of operation and functions of the related elements of the structure, and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description and the appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, the latter of which are briefly described herein below.